12/06/2017

New Rep's "La Mancha": To Reach the Impossible Note

The Cast of "Man of La Mancha"(photo: Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures

As is the case with theatergoers who were fortunate
enough to attend productions of the 1959 “musical play” that was
Man of La Mancha on Broadway, or one or more of its four New
York revivals in 1972, 1977, 1992, or 2002, this show remains a
beloved memory. Based on the 1965 novel Don Quixote (written between 1605 and
1615) as well as other works by Miguel de Cervantes, it was nominated
for seven Tony Awards, winning five (including Best Musical). It had first seen the light of day as a non-musical
teleplay by Dale Wasserman in 1959, later adapted by him for the
musical stage (at Goodspeed Opera House, also the original home of
Annie in 1976), with Music by Mitch Leigh and Lyrics by Joe
Darion. It was Wasserman's ingenious move to portray the eccentric
title character in a play-within-a-play, a tribute to the historical
reality that Cervantes himself, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was
not primarily a poet but first and foremost a playwright and actor on
the road with his own little troupe. This “musical play”
reflected the idealistic hopes of the time, becoming known primarily
for its best song, The Quest , also known as The Impossible
Dream (especially among Red Sox fans in 1967). It was also
acknowledged as providing one of the rare Broadway musical male lead
roles, along with the likes of Tevye and Harold Hill. It survived
its being made into an almost completely forgettable film in 1972
starring Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren, neither of whom could carry
a tune in the proverbial bucket (though only O'Toole was dubbed).
The question for modern audiences is this: does it still speak to
them as it celebrates idealism and hope, in a more cynical age?

Alas, the question remains unanswered, at least with
this production. For reasons known only to Director Antonio
Ocampo-Guzman, the setting has been arbitrarily altered to Spain in
the era of Franco (the 1960's) while still featuring a trial by the
Spanish Inquisition (1478, last time one checked). One who had never
seen a production of this show could be forgiven for not grasping the
logic of that wrong-headed decision, one that mirrors the auteur
approach all too common these days among operatic directors who
thoroughly ignore a librettist's original intent. Unfortunately there
were some other crucial missteps as well, from the distracting and
ugly steampunk-like set, to the haphazard lighting that left one
searching for which actor was speaking or singing countless times, to
the equally unfocused movement direction, the weirdly unsettling
sound and musical effects, the drab (even for prisoners) costumes and
bizarre use of non-period instruments like an accordian and ukulele.
Its most egregious mistaken choice was casting otherwise excellent
actors in singing roles that were out of their comfort zones. It also
ignored the explicit instructions by the librettist that Cervantes
appear to grow old and gaunt (applying makeup and beard as he assumes
the title role), and that his comic sidekick be “chubby” (not due
to a prosthetic appliance). And then there is Wasserman's note that
“the play is performed without intermission”, which was also
ignored, leading to the breaking of tension as the play progressed.
So many wrong-headed decisions were indicative that the creative team
failed to grasp and/or convey the fundamental message of the piece.

One exception was the choice of Austrian opera diva Ute
Gfrerer as Aldonza, the whore who evolves into Dulcenea, the “noble
lady” chosen by the knight-errant Don Quixote, who is his sole
convert in the end. Gfrerer was solidly at home in her acting and
singing of the role (though she looked far too well-coiffed for the
character), whose famous background in interpreting Kurt Weill really
showed, a reminder of the power the play should possess.

Sadly, if one is looking for meaning in life and the
courage to persevere with resilience against a tyrannical
administration, one won't find either here in this missed
opportunity.